[ti:Ties with US, North Korea Make Singapore a Good Meeting Place] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]American President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un [00:07.40]have agreed to meet in Singapore on June 12. [00:13.68]Singapore's position in Asia, [00:16.84]and diplomatic ties with the U.S. and North Korea, [00:22.12]make it a natural choice for the historic meeting. [00:28.28]Trump announced the meeting in a tweet Thursday. [00:33.45]Singapore is one of the few countries that have diplomatic relations [00:40.44]with both North Korea and the United States. [00:46.52]It is also considered a neutral place. [00:51.88]The city-state of less than 6 million people [00:56.72]is between Malaysia and Indonesia. [01:01.64]The country has 700 square kilometers of land. [01:08.08]That is about three and one half times the size of Washington, DC. [01:15.58]Britain founded Singapore as a trading colony in 1819. [01:24.44]It joined the Malaysian Federation in 1963, [01:30.08]but became independent two years later. [01:35.01]The country maintains strong international trading ties. [01:41.76]It is a port city, between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, [01:49.40]on one of the busiest waterways in the world. [01:54.80]Singapore is also a wealthy country, [01:58.80]with incomes similar to those of leading European nations. [02:06.24]The country has been ruled by one party [02:10.08]since gaining independence in 1965. [02:16.12]Protests cannot take place without permission. [02:21.12]Movement is limited and there are controls on media. [02:28.24]Tom Plant is an expert on nuclear issues [02:32.48]at London's Royal United Services Institute. [02:38.04]He said Singapore is "a great location" for the meeting. [02:44.96]Plant told the Associated Press that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un [02:51.52]"will be on friendly territory, not hostile territory. [02:57.32]But he wouldn't be on home turf." [03:02.48]North Korea's state companies have, in the past, [03:06.68]traded with Singaporean companies. [03:11.24]Under pressure from the United States, [03:14.84]Singapore officially stopped trade relations with North Korea in 2017. [03:23.84]U.S. ties to Singapore are strong. [03:28.16]The port city has long provided services [03:32.20]to visiting U.S. Navy ships in the Asia-Pacific area. [03:38.28]It is also the regional headquarters of large American companies [03:44.88]including Google, Facebook and Airbnb. [03:52.00]Former U.S. Ambassador to Singapore David Adelman [03:56.72]said Singapore is the perfect location for the meeting. [04:02.08]He said, "Singapore has been a great friend to the U.S. [04:08.72]But also Singapore has carefully worked to be a friend to all, [04:15.64]which has earned it trust in capitals around the world." [04:21.36]Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, [04:27.04]"We hope this meeting will advance prospects for peace in the Korean Peninsula." [04:35.36]In 2015, Singapore was the site of another historic meeting, [04:42.64]between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwan's then-President Ma Ying-jeou. [04:52.32]It was the first such meeting [04:54.76]since the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949. [05:02.96]I'm Caty Weaver. [05:04.32]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM